Countryside Rangers seek volunteers for upcoming butterfly wildlife survey
Posted on 2 Jul 2024
Do you want to volunteer some time at your local country park? Would you like to gain new skills to help prevent nature loss and champion local biodiversity?
Well, if you are free between 10am and 12pm on Wednesday, July 10, you could well be exactly who we are looking for…
Our Countryside Rangers are in need of local volunteers who can join a group of ten nature enthusiasts to help with an upcoming butterfly nature survey – but spaces are limited!
The 10th July butterfly-spotting session is the first in a series of ‘Have-a-Go’ nature surveys taking place this summer – with bats and wetland birds surveys to follow later in July and early August…
Taking place by foot throughout various locations across Eglinton Country Park, the session will give volunteers the chance to find out how our Countryside Rangers run their Butterfly Transect wildlife survey.
Participants will then be able to use the skills gained to set up their very own transect in a local greenspace if they want to...
Rhonda Leith, Head of Service for Connected Communities said: “Our Countryside Rangers play a pivotal role in ensuring we have the correct conservation planning in place to protect local biodiversity and prevent nature loss.
“If you have some free time this summer, why not consider volunteering some time with them or our many groups across Eglinton Country Park?
“The Rangers are enlisting the help of local people to help us to gain a better understanding of the presence of butterflies in North Ayrshire. Although our Rangers do recordings weekly, the upcoming session is to give volunteers a flavour of what it is like to run a transect-based survey.
“It will allow people to learn about how the data is collected, where it goes once it is completed and then will hopefully encourage and empower them to adopt their own spots to do butterfly surveys locally.”
Countryside Ranger Graeme Walla adds: “The information gained from the upcoming survey is vital for us to plan and implement appropriately the conservation actions required to do what is best for Scotland’s butterflies.
“We are calling out to residents interested in biodiversity, conservation and those who would like to give up a few hours of their time, to help with the upcoming Butterfly Transect survey.
“Not only will the wildlife survey session help the team to understand the current presence of butterflies or moths, locally, it is also an important opportunity for us to gain a better understanding of the behaviours, habitats and ecology of species, so that we can do all that we can to protect them.
“This is also a great way of participating in local citizen science projects alongside our Rangers.
“From a conservation perspective, butterflies are key biodiversity indicators and they react very quickly to even slight changes in their habitat. If numbers start to fall, then it’s a sign that nature is in trouble, therefore, it is vitally important that we do what we can to track numbers of butterflies to ensure a more sustainable North Ayrshire for flora, fauna and humans alike.”
The session is FREE, however booking is required.
Book online via the HAC Ticket Source website: https://thehac.co.uk/events
Stay tuned to North Ayrshire Ranger Service on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NorthAyrshireRangerService and X (formerly Twitter): https://x.com/North_Ayrshire for more nature sessions happening this summer and how you can get to know your local country park better.
Overview:
- Meet on Wednesday, July 10 at 10am until 12pm.
- Meet at the Ranger flag in the courtyard.
- The survey will be a taster session aimed at those curious about getting more involved in nature. It is not formal training.
- The survey is easy – North Ayrshire Ranger Service will take care of the science and data-crunching side of things.
- Suitable for age 12+ (under 18s must be accompanied by an adult)
- Sturdy footwear is required.